Liquid-sealed closure for gauge holes



April 21,1931 J. H. WIGGINS ET AL LIQUID SEALED CLOSURE FOR GAUGE HOLES Filed Oct. 22, 1928 INVENTORSI Jo/wv h W/q //v5 CHRROL F7 B W T7'ORNEY Patented Apr. 21, 1931 A UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN H. WIGGINS AND oARRoLL' A. TURNER, or TULSA, OKLAHOMA; SAID TURNER AS- sIGNon .TO SAID wIGGIus I LIQUID-SEALED CLOSURE FOR GAUGE HOLES Application filed etober 22, 1928. Serial No. 314,125.

This invention relates to a closure for a gauge hole or thief hole in the roof of a tank or container in which volatile liquids or gases are stored.

One object ofour invention is to provide a liquid sealed closure of the general type mentioned, which is of such construction that when the movable lid or cover is in its open position, any liquid that drips from the sealing device on said lid will be prevented from running onto the roof of the tank, the structure being preferably constructed in such a manner that any liquid that drips from the sealing device will be conserved and returned to the body of sealing liquid by a means that receives said sealing device when the lid is Another object is to provide a closure of the general type mentioned, that is equipped with a means for preventing a large volume of gases from suddenly rushing out of the storage tank and blowing off liquid that adheres to the sealing device on the lid, during the operation ofremoving said lid and arranging it in its open position.

Another object is to provide a closure of the general type mentioned, which is of such construction that when the lid is arranged in its open position, the sealing device on the lid will be protected from wind or air currents that might blow ofi the liquid that adheres to the sealing device.

And still another object of our invention is to provide a closure of the general type mentioned, that has provision for sustaining the lid in such'a way when it is in its open position that, notwithstanding the fact that the sealing liquid which drips from the sealing device on the lid is collected or conserved,

there is no tendency for the body of sealing liquid to be sprayed upwardly or discharged from its reservoir by the gases escaping from the tank through the gauge hole or thief hole in the roof of the tank. Other objects and desirable features of our invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

To this end We have devised a closure for a hole in a storage tank roof, that comprises a movable lid or cover which is adapted to be normally arranged over said hole,

a depending sealing device on said lid, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device when the lid is closed or in its operative position, and a reservoir or confining means for said bodyof sealing liquid constructed so that after said lid has been moved into its open position, any sealing liquid that drips off said sealing device will be collected and preferably returned to the body of sealingliquid.

In order to prevent a large body of gases from suddenly rushing out of thetank when the lid is being opened and blowing off liquid adhering to the sealing device on the lid, a movable auxiliary cover is arranged under the lid in the outlet through which the gases escape from the tank, said auxiliary cover being adapted to be opened after the lid has been taken off or arranged in its open position. The reservoir or means that is used to confine the body of sealing liquid may be of various forms and itmay be constructed in various ways without departing from the spirit of our invention, but it is preferably shaped so that in addition to having a portion that surrounds a tubular member on the tank roof whichconstit'utes the gauge hole or thief hole, it also comprises a portion of such shape and dimensions that when the lid is arranged in its open position, the sealing device on the lid will project into said reservoir. Preferably the side wall of said reservoir is extended upwardly sufficiently above the tubular member on the tank roof to act as a wind shield for the sealing device on the lid which tends to protect said sealing device from strong air currents that might blow off liquid adhering to said sealing device. In a closure of the kind to which our invention relates it is highly desirable that the level of the sealing liquid be maintained far enough below the top edge of the tubular member on the tank roof when the lid is open, to eliminate the possibility of escaping gases acting on the body of sealing liquid in such a way as to spray said liquid upwardly out of its reservoir. In order to accomplish this result and at the same time provide a reservoir. or confining means for the body of sealing liquid, which is of such construction that the sealing device on the lid will project into a portion of said reservoir when the lid is open, we provide a supporting means for the lid, when it is open, which is of such construction that the act of arranging the lid on said supporting means'does not unduly or materially raise the level of the body of sealing liquid. We also prefer to design the structure so that the topsurface of the lid is maintained in a substantially horizontal position when the lid is open, thereby producing a convenient supporting surface on which the auxiliary cover can be placed, after said cover has been removed from the tubular member on the tank r0(l)f that constitutes the gauge hole or thiet ho e.

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a liquid sealed closure constructed in accordance with our invention, showing in a full lines the lid arranged in its closed position, and showing in broken lines the lid arranged in its open position; and

Figure 2 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of the sctructure shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of our invention, A designates the roof or top wall of a storage tank that is used for confining volatile liquids or gases, 0: designates a hole in said roof, commonly referred to as a gauge hole or thief hole, that is surrounded by an upwardlypro'ecting, tubular member B on the tank roo C designates a movable cover, herein illustrated as a removable lid, D designates a depending tubular sealing device on said lid, shaped so as to surround the tubular member B on the tank root when the lid C is in its closed position, as shown in full lines in Figure 1, and i designates a body of sealing liquid into which. the sealing device D projects in the closed position of the lid. The sealing liquid 7 is held by a reservoir or confining means E which may be of various shapes or constructed in various ways without departing from the spirit of our invention, so lon as it comprises a portion that surrounds t e tubular member B, and also a portion into which the sealing device I) on the lid will project when the lid is in its open position, as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. We have herein shown the bottom of the reservoir E as being formed by a horizontally-disposed plate 1 arranged above the roof A of the tank and connected to the tubular member B and to the side wall of the reservoir. In the form of our invention herein illustrated the reservoir E is substantially oblong in shape and is provided with rounded ends, one of which is arranged in comparatively close proximity to the tubular member B and the other being arranged far enough to one side of said tubular member B to provide a space for receiving the sealing device D on the lid when the lid is open. Accordingly, any sealing liquid that adheres to the sealing device D on the lid in the operation of removing the lid and arranging it in its open position, will drain off said sealing device and fall back into the body of liquid y in the reservoir E. This is a very desirable characteristic of a liquid sealed hatch for a storage tank gauge hole or thief hole, as it effectively prevents the volume or quantity of the body of sealing liquid being diminished by dripping from the sealing device on the lid each time the lid is removed, and it also prevents the sealing liquid from becoming spread over the roof of the tank in proximity to the gauge hole, due to dripping of the sealing liquid from the sealing device D on the lid each time the lid is removed. Preferably, the tubular sealing device D on the lid is so proportioned that when the lid rests on the upper edge of the side wall of the reservoir E, the lower end of the sealing device D will be spaced some distance away from the bottom of the reservoir, thereby preventing rain from being driven into the reservoir through the joint between the top edge of same and the underside of the lid and also preventing the sealing device D from becoming frozen to the bottom of the reservoir E by water in the sealing liquid 1 that settles to the bottom of the reservoir.

In gauge hatches or thief hole covers of conventional design, loss of sealing liquid or diminution in the quantity of sealing liquid, often occurs by reason of liquid being blown off the sealing device on the lid by the gases which rush out of the tank when the lid is being opened. In order to eliminate this, and thus produce a liquid sealed closure whose supply of sealing liquid will remain substantially constant, we have equipped our improved closure with an auxiliary cover C that is normally positioned in the upper end of the tubular member B on the tank root. In such a structure the act of removing the lid C and arranging it in its open position cannot result in any loss of liquid that adheres to the sealing device D on the lid, due to the fact that the auxiliary cover C effectively prevents a sudden rush of gas out of the gauge hole or thief hole m when the lid C of the structure is being removed. It is, of course, true that the auxiliary cover C is not absolutely tight, but this is not necessary, as we do not depend on the auxiliary cover C to normally prevent the escape of gases from the tank. ()n the contrary, the normal escape of the gases from the tank is prevented by the lid (l and depending sealing device D on said lid which projects into the body of sealing liquid y, the auxiliary cover C being used merely to prevent a large volume of gases from rushing out of the tank and striking against the depending sealing device on the lid C in the operation of removing said lid and arranging it in its open position.

As shown in Figure 1, the side wall of the a position of the lid.

reservoir or confining means E for the body of sealing liquid proJects upwardly some distance above the top edge of the tubular member B on the tank roof. The purpose of con-- structing said side wall in this manner is to provide a wind shield for the sealing device D on the lid that will effectively prevent wind from striking against the portion of the sealing device D to which liquid may adhere and blow such liquid off the sealing device D when the lid is in its open position.

i As previously stated, the reservoir or confining means E for the body of sealing liquid 3 is so constructed that after the lid C has been removed, it can be set in such a position that any liquid which adheres to the sealing device D on said lid will drain back to the body of sealing liquid, and thus notwasted. In addition to having this desirable characteristic, our improved closure is so designed that the act of arranging the lid C in its open position with the sealing device D on the lid projecting downwardly into the reservoir E,

has no tendency to raise the level of the body of sealing liquid 2 abnormally, or in such a way that the'gases which escape from the tank through the tubular member B might spray the sealing liquid upwardly out of its reservoir. lVe attain this result by equipping the reservoir E with a supporting member F arranged transversely of the reservoir above the bottom of same so that it will act as a support on which the bottom edge of the sealing device D on the lid can rest when the lid is in its open position, thereby preventing the sealing device D from displacing the body of sealing liquid y and causing the level of same to rise to a point in proximity to the top edge of the tubular member B on the tank roof in the operation of setting the lid in its open position, as might occur if the sealing device D on the lid were permitted to move downwardlyinto the reservoir and rest on the bottom of the reservoir in the open The support F is also preferably provided with an upwardly-projecting flange 2 that is arranged in such relation with the left hand end wall of the reservoir E, looking at Figure 1, that when the lid C is arranged in its open position, with the sealing device D thereon resting on the support F", the left hand end wall of the reservoir E will contact with one side of the sealing device D and the fian 'e 2 on the support F willcontact with the opposite side of said'sealing device, and thus maintain said sealing device in a substantiallyupright position, or, at least, inisuch a waythat the lid C will be maintained in a substantially hori- Zontal or level position, as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. By designing the structure in this manner we not only obtain a definite position for the lid C when it is open that insures the recovery of any liquid that may adhere to the sealing device D and prevent such adhering liquid from being blown off the sealing device, but we also obtain a sufficiently level position of the lid C to permit it to be used as a support on which the auxliary cover C can be arranged after it has been'removed from the tubular member B on the tank roof.

Having thus described our invention,'what' we claim asnew and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. A liquid sealed closure of the hind re-- ferred to, comprising a movable lid provided with a depending sealing device, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device when the lid is closed, and means that receives said sealing device when the lid is open, and conserves liquid that drips from said sealing device at such times.

2. A liquid sealed closure for a tank that contains volatile liquids or gases, comprising a movable lid provided with a sealing device, a body of liquid that co-operates with said sealing device to normally prevent the escape'of gases from the tank, and means for preventing liquid that adheres to said sealing device from being blown oil same by a sudden rush of gases from the tank when the lid is being opened.

8. A. liquid sealed closure for atank that is adapted tocontain volatile liquids or gases, comprising a movable lid provided with a sealing device, a body of liquid that co-operates with said sealing device to normally prevent the escape of gases from said tank, means for conserving the sealing liquid that drains from said sealing device when the lid is opened, and a means for preventing a sudden rush of gases from the tank inthe operationof opening said lid.

4. Aliquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, comprisinga movable lid provided with a sealing device, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its closed position, and means for maintaining the lid in such a position when it is open that liquid which drains from said sealing device is conserved and said sealing device is protected from wind currents that might blow adhering liquid oli" said sealing device. 7

5. In a storage tank, an outlet through which gases can escape, a movable lid that normally closes said outlet, a depending sealing device on said lid, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device when the lid is closed, means for sustaining 'said lid in such a position when it is open that liquid which drains from said sealing device will be conserved, and a shield for protecting said sealing device from strong wind currents when the lid is in its open. position.

6. A storage tank provided with an outlet through which gases can escape from the tank, a movable lid for said outlet, a sealing device on said lid, a body of liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, and a reservoir for holding said liquid, constructed so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position.

7. A storage tank provided with an outlet through whlch gases can escape from the tank, a movable lid for said outlet, a sealing device on said lid, a body of liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, a reservoir for holding said liquid, constructed so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position, and a movable auxiliary cover for the outlet of the tank.

8. A storage tank provided with an outlet through which gases can escape from the tank, a movable lid for said outlet, a sealing device on said lid, 21 body of liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, and a reservoir for holding said liquid, constructed so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position, the side wall of said reservoir terminating at a point higher than the top edge of said outlet.

9. A storage tank provided with an outlet through which gases can escape from the tank, a movable lid for said outlet, a sealing device on said lid, a body of liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, a reservoir for holding said liquid, constructed so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position, the side wall of said reservoir terminating at a point higher than the top edge of said outlet, and an auxiliary cover movably mounted in said outlet.

10. A liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, comprising a removable lid provided with a depending sealing device, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing liquid when the lid is closed, a reservoir for said sealing liquid, constructed so that said sealing device can be positioned in a portion of same after said lid as been moved into its open position, and means for preventing the level of the sealing liquid from being raised abnormally when the lid is being arranged in its open position.

11. A liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, com rising a movable lid provided with a depen ing sealing device, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device when the lid is closed, and a reservoir for said sealing liquid constructed so that the lid can be arranged in an inoperative position with the sealing device on the lid projecting into said reservoir and spaced above the bottom of the reservoir.

12. In a storage tank, the combination of a tubular member that serves as a gas exit from the tank, a movable lid, a depending sealing device on the lid that is arranged in concentric relationship with said tubular member when the lid is closed, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device, and a reservoir for said sealing liquid having a portion positioned at one side of said tubular member and proportioned so as to receive the sealing device on the lid when the lid is in its open position.

13. In a storage tank, the combination of a tubular member that serves as a gas exit from the tank, a movable lid, a depending sealing device on the lid that is arranged in concentric relationship with said tubular member when the lid is closed, a body of sealing liquid that is adapted to receive said sealing device, a reservoir for said seal ing liquid having a portion positioned at one side of said tubular member and proportioned so as to receive the sealing device on the lid when the lid is in its open position, and a supporting means in said reservoir arranged above the bottom of same and adapted to co-act with the wall of the reservoir to form opposed surfaces that bear upon the sealing device and hold the lid in a substantially horizontal or level position.

14. In a liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, the combination of a tubular member leading from the tank, a movable lid, a sealing device depending from said lid and arranged in concentric relation with said tubular member, a body of sealing liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, a reservoir for said sealing liquid having a portion located at one side of said tubular member, proportioned so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position, a supporting member in said reservoir on which the lower edge of said sealing device rests when the lid is in its open position, and an auxiliary cover movably mounted in said tubular member.

15. In a liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, the combination of a tubular member leading from the tank, a movable lid, a sealing device depending from said lid and arranged in concentric relation with said tubular member, a body of sealing liquid that receives said sealing device when the lid is closed, a reservoir for said sealing liquid having a portion located at one side of said tubular member, proportioned so as to receive said sealing device when the lid is in its open position, a supporting member in said reservoir on which the lower edge of said sealing device rests when the lid is in its open position, and an auxiliary cover movably mounted in said tubular member, the side Wall of said reservoir terminating at a point above the upper end of said tubular member.

16. In a liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, the combination of a tubular member leading from a tank, a reservoir surrounding said tubular member and having a portion located at one side of said tubu ar the lid is open.

17. In a liquid sealed closure of the kind referred to, the combination of a tubular member leading from a tank, a reservoir surrounding said tubular member and having a portion located at one side of said tubular member, a body of sealing liquid in said reservoir, a movable lid resting upon the top edge of said reservoir, a depending sealing device on said lid projecting downwardly into said reservoir and having its lower end spaced away from the bottom of the reservoir when the lid is in its closed position, the portion of the reservoir at one side of said tubular member being proportiond so as to receive the sealing device on the lid when the lid is open, an auxiliary cover movably mounted in said tubular member, and a support in the reservoir arranged above the bottom of same on which the lower end of the sealing device on the lid rests when the lid is in its open position.

JOHN H. WIGGINS.

CARROLL A. TURNER. 

